Yokota Based Coast Guard Personnel Not Getting Paid Due to Partial Government Shutdown
This is pretty jacked up that Coast Guard personnel serving in Japan have to get food from a pantry. Regardless it is good to see servicemembers helping other servicemembers in need:
Servicemembers working without pay due to the government shutdown picked up donated groceries from a food pantry Thursday at the home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo.
Stars & Stripes
Twenty-two Coast Guardsmen, including 15 at Yokota and seven in Singapore, aren’t being paid during the shutdown, which started more than a month ago. The impasse stems from House Democrats’ refusal to provide President Donald Trump with the billions he demands to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.
Other military branches have continued to receive paychecks, but the Coast Guard, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, not the Defense Department, has gone unfunded.
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz on Wednesday publicly criticized the lack of pay.
“Ultimately, I find it unacceptable that Coast Guard men and women have to rely on food pantries and donations to get through day-to-day life as servicemembers,” he said in a video posted to his Twitter account.
You can read more at the link.
Fake news.
Anybody so irresponsible they have no food a few days after missing a paycheck doesn’t need to be in any government job.
…but chances are that person doesn’t actually exist the way it is being represented.
When you’ve got a shrinking balance, keeping the fridge stocked goes from a fixed budget item to an option compared to paying the rent and the like.
It has been quite a while since they’ve had a paycheck. And (having been in this position before) it will be a while before they get it, after the shut down ends. Think it took over two months for us during the last shut down because once the “non-essential” finance people came back to process the paperwork to write the checks, the paperwork had piled up…kind of a cascading snow ball effect. Took a long while to process the orders. Same thing happened with the VA and all their paperwork (which led to some problems that made headline news….think the VA might be okay this time around, but I don’t know about the others (traditional reservists, guard, contractors and all that).
Very glad it’s no longer our problem.
Given that the wall Trump wants to build will cost less than the rounding error in the Federal Budget, I think the Democrats are being stinkers.
That said, I really blame the Coast Guard itself for not being prepared. They’re gonna have to drop that fraudulent “Semper Paratus” schtick after this..
“Ultimately, I find it unacceptable that Coast Guard men and women have to rely on food pantries and donations to get through day-to-day life as servicemembers,”
Yeah. Me too… but for different reasons.
The Coast Guard has missed ONE paycheck… January 15th. The article was dated January 24.
Honestly, anybody who does not have 9 days of food stored or 9 days of money stored in their bank account needs to reevaluate their lives and money management techniques.
This is understandable if you are disabled and mop floors at Walmart.
There is no excuse if you are a United States government worker of some sort.
Bonus: Just met with a “prepper group” composed of long-time foreign residents in Korea. Good grief. They were worried about stuff like if a ridge overlooking their country land would expose them to snipers… yet hadn’t gone up to a black market store and spent a solid night of drinking’s worth on a month’s worth of MREs.
I guess I should accept that most people are unprepared for a couple months of adversity…
…as most people aren’t even really prepared for daily life.
Anyone know how many of these folks live in Government Quarters? That’s paid for isn’t it? Utilities? Those are the big ones. Kills me how the news talks about Gov workers stateside but never mentions how they qualify for Unemployment Insurance. And the interviews! Written by CNBC, ‘I don’t know how I will pay the mortgage or eat?” And all those LAZboy workers calling in sick! They’re going to get a big gravy paycheck when this all ends, when Pelosi caves in.
There are different pools of government workers. Active duty who live in government quarters have rent and utilities covered. Reservists pay rent and utilities when they live in government quarters. Not sure about guard and contractors..I’m assuming they’re in the same situation as the reservists. Also depends on whether one is on active duty orders. Continuous active duty orders (say a year’s worth to sign the lease with the housing office) and it’s like an active duty job.
Not everyone stationed overseas resides in on-base housing. Depending on where you are in Japan, the rent and other fees attendant to housing can be quite high. Tokyo is certainly one of the high cost areas. Then there is COLA (Cost of Living Allowance) which is based on locality and number of dependents. The Petty Officer, who does not have the choice to quit and get another job because he is in fact a member of the military, is working for no pay and that includes not getting his station allowances. Here’s the current duty status of his pay and allowances:
Basic Pay: MIA
Basic Allowance for Subsistence: MIA
Cost of Living Allowance: MIA
If he’s not in government quarters:
Basic Allowance for Quarters: MIA
Overseas Housing Allowance: MIA
And, no, he is not eligible for unemployment insurance. That’s no way to treat someone in the military or their family.
For those civilian workers back in the US who are furloughed, yes, they are eligible for unemployment insurance. However, there are catches to that. One is they can only receive it for a stipulated time, which varies based on the state/territory. Florida and North Carolina must be awash in job opportunities, apparently, as they provide “up to 12 weeks of UI” (https://www.cbpp.org/research/economy/policy-basics-how-many-weeks-of-unemployment-compensation-are-available). Another fun catch is that once the furloughed workers are back to work thanks to the end of the shut-down, then they must give the state/territory back the UI they got, and they have to pay interest. Oh, did I mention that not all states are extending UI benefits because, according to the law, the government workers are not unemployed, especially the essential personnel?
This is a bit more than “hey, how come you didn’t save enough for food in case you don’t have a job?” He’s got a job and there’s no idea when that job will start paying.
Don’t want to be affected by a government shutdown?
Don’t rely on the government!
…but if you must…
…government shutdowns are a thing. Anybody who didn’t see one coming with Trump as president and a deranged Democratic congress deserves to die of hunger curled up in a fetal position amid a flock of vultures.
Bonus thought: They are the Coast Guard. Don’t they know how to fish?
Let’s look at a few more random things:
A) “In 2014, the average federal employee salary was $84,153, approximately 50% more than the average private sector worker earned. This discrepancy increases to 78% when benefits are included. The average federal worker costs the government (aka taxpayers) $119,934”
Pity for government workers who can’t make bills for a couple of weeks: ZERO
After a second month, and a couple of cycles of real bills, I will have pity… but the media overplays its hand when it starts bringing out the sob stories after 1 missed mid-month paycheck.
B) After so many days of government shutdown, the government can start laying off workers. There is a theory Trump is aware of this and it is a part of his plan… lay off a bunch of big-government anti-Trump parasites OR congress has to back down to keep that from happening… the type of win-win situation Trump likes to arrange. Maybe.
@Chickenhead, for a lower enlisted to miss a paycheck that is a big deal, especially if they are not getting BAH and living off post. The Coastie in the article here would not have been paid in three weeks and we have no idea how many credit card bills he has or what not that could have sapped what savings he had. I can definitely see how this could really challenging situation for him.
Most government workers I agree should have enough savings to weather a couple of months of adversity. However, not all the government workers make good paychecks. Lower level government employees will struggle with missing a paycheck. However, if they are non-essential they should be able to weather a couple of months of this by going on unemployment if they need it. However, essential personnel cannot get unemployment which leaves them the only option of taking out a low interest loan if they need it.
Regardless the media is going to sensationalize this as much as possible.
Hey I just started a business, I would like all of you to quit your jobs and work for me but I do need to mention that there will be times where you’ll be on forced unpaid leave or even have to work without pay but we’ll hook you up later. The job we do isn’t very critical so we’re prone to the point where this has a chance of happening every year. So… who’s in?
Yeah I thought so.
Shutdowns have been long used by the major political parties as fukery leverage. If you’re not asking “How have past shutdown’s affected this organization?” when interviewing for a position that’s on you. If the job you perform is that “meh” to be affected by every stinking hint of a shutdown that’s on YOU.
Ask the right questions and up your career game.
Smokes, we’re speaking of an employer who can promise everyone a sign on bonus for future years of service, then back out years later and ask for their money back (sometimes with interest….if they overpay you without telling you, I got one of those notices for this year’s income tax filling treat).
No private company could run like that…they’d be sued into the ground.
Liz, it happens all the time. That’s why that type of business hires H1B holders or illegals.
BTW, the Democrats in Congress have rejected the third attempt by the GOP to pay Government workers through the shutdown.
https://twitter.com/RepDanCrenshaw/status/1087883789970354176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“Fake news.
Anybody so irresponsible they have no food a few days after missing a paycheck doesn’t need to be in any government job.
…but chances are that person doesn’t actually exist the way it is being represented.”
Good Lord man, just because “FakeNews” is the new battle cry since 2016 for people who do not want to believe the truth, please at least have sympathy for your fellow compatriots that actually ARE having to dip into food pantries. How elitist to say anyone who cant afford food a few days after a paycheck is there own fault. By the way 3 consecutive missed paychecks is not a few days. Forget our political differences, these are our fellow countrymen and women.
A Listener,
1. If I were to quantify it, for any sort of government worker, I would say my sympathy starts after 3 missed paychecks… not 9 days after 1 missed paycheck.
2. It is not elitist to expect the majority of people to be self-sufficient for some time. People have a responsibility to themselves and their families to do so. Maybe putting a thousand dollars in cash in a shoebox over a year instead of running up the credit card on noisy-flashy crap is a good idea… and hardly a difficulty to the vast majority with a government job.
3. I somewhat sympathize with a “fellow countrymen” appeal… yet so many government workers are anti-Trump for reason that hurt America… and the vast majority are anti-work… much more interested in perpetuating process than actually getting something substantial done. Many of them are anti-America… not because they are for America’s enemies… but because they are for themselves and will sabotage things that are good for America if it is not good for them.
4. I represent the demographic that cares about long-term border security over short-term unhappiness of government workers… as BOTH of them benefit America and Americans. It is likely a large reduction in government workers would mostly go unnoticed if the remaining workers would do their job instead of sabotaging the situation (as TSA is doing now).
5. Not sure it matters. Trump caved and restarted the government for 3 weeks. This might be a good move to give relief to government workers while showing good faith and laying groundwork for future negotiations… or it might have been the only way out of a corner he backed himself into. We will know in some time.
“It is my shutdown, I will take full responsibility for it” – President Donald Trump.
I do not detest our President, I only am baffled at the apologists whom know in their minds that even if he said I am responsible for burning down this Orphanage full of innocents, they will say, the opposition forced him to do it.
The Juche Is strong among False Christiansand Republicans in this Reality TV Star President. Stronger than Obummer.
Some people.would burn down a thousand.orphanages to save a nation.
Upon consideration, a few things stand out:
“Blah blah blah workers are calling in sick at higher rates due to not getting paid.”
Screw them. Fire them. They ARE getting paid… just not on the agreed upon schedule. Everyone understands they will get paid when the shutdown is over. Now they are just fucking with Americans instead of serving them. There is no need for public servants with this attitude.
“10% of TSA is calling in sick.”
The normal sick rate of TSA is over 3%. So all the airport delays and hassle is because the existing TSA people are incapable or unwilling to work 7% harder in a lax job that already exemplifies slug-like government worker behavior.
This whole shutdown “crisis” is media-manufactured to sabotage any chance of meaningful border security. Government workers who should be giving their all to support America and Americans in times of very minor adversity are sabotaging daily operations deliberately and sabotaging long-term benefits to America such as border security.
There needs to be a cull of government parasites.
This says a few thing nicely:
https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/14/smoke-out-resistance
Well, before Trump the USAF motto for several Obama years was “culture of compliance”.
They dumped that one in Trump’s first few months of office. And Goldfein allowed commanders to ignore all superfluous and counter productive regulations. Think that was unprecedented. Made things far more efficient. Imagine if that happened for government overall.
I think the only way for a government shut down to be effective is to have a real shut down. That would have a real impact. Otherwise it’s too small a subset of people impacted…just not paying air traffic controllers doesn’t do much (unless all air travel shuts down) but imagine if the Social security checks stopped coming. And retirement checks.
It’s kind of bullshyte we get our retirement check when the people who have to go to the job aren’t getting a paycheck. I’m happy to sacrifice to get enough fire under the arses of people (take away welfare checks, SS, can’t go to that doctors’ appointment and so forth). If that happened, the shutdown would be over in 24 hours. And in the meantime Trump could say he was elected for promising stronger border security…it’s Congress standing in the way.
This appropriations/continuing resolution madness is an invention of modern day politics.
https://www.gofundme.com/TheTrumpWall
Come on! Let’s all pitch in!